Metro

1 in 5 are bullied in NYC high schools

Nearly one in five city public high-school students has been a victim of bullying, a new study reveals.

The Health Department found that 18 percent of students said they’ve been bullied at school or over the Internet.

There is little difference between the numbers of boys and girls being bullied on school property.

“However, when examining cyberbullying separate from school bullying, girls were more likely than boys to be cyberbullied — 13 percent vs. 9 percent,” the report said.

Cyberbullying is described as abusing a student through e-mail, chat rooms, instant messaging, Web sites or texting. This kind of bullying is devastating because it can go viral on the Internet.

The analysis, based on 2011 figures, found that about one in six victims of any type of bullying attempted suicide; 6 percent of nonbullied kids tried to kill themselves.

Over the past year, at least two bullied kids have taken their own lives.

Gay students are often targets. More than one in four students who say they’re lesbian, gay or bisexual were bullied, compared to 17 percent of heterosexual students.

The city has long grappled with gay bashing.

It opened the Harvey Milk HS for at-risk students — particularly gay and transgender youngsters bullied at other schools.

The report said the level of bullying did not differ much by race: 20 percent of whites, 19 percent of Hispanics, 17 percent of Hispanics and 16 percent of Asians said they were picked on.

Younger teens were bullied more than older ones. For example, more than in one in five ninth-graders were victims, compared with one in six 12th-graders.

Bullying also hurts students academically.

Fearing for their safety, bullied students were six times more likely than others to skip school.

About one in five bullied students said they were threatened or injured with a weapon, a rate six times higher than other kids, the study found. And they were twice as likely to carry a weapon themselves.

They are also more likely to smoke and abuse drugs.

Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio said that cracking down on bullying is a priority. He issued a report on the issue last year as the city’s public advocate, stressing that bullying should first be addressed through mediation rather than resorting to suspensions.

The city has a good record preventing bullying compared with the rest of the country.

“Bullying among city high school students is 9 percentage points lower than the rest of the nation,” said schools spokesman Devon Puglia.

“Our schools provide safe and respectful learning environments for our children — and that’s one reason why we’ve made such remarkable gains in student achievement over the past decade.”

He cited special training for teachers and the launch of a Web site “with invaluable resources for students, families, and teachers.’’

A new state law requires more extensive reporting of bullying and protection for students.

The Department of Education’s policy states that “reports of bullying, harassment, or intimidating behavior will be investigated” and trigger disciplinary action or a police referral, if warranted.

Reported bullying (at school and online) among NYC teens:

  • 18% of public high-school students are victims of bullying
  • 29 % of gays bullied, compared with 17% of straight kids
  • 21% of ninth-graders bullied vs. 16% of 12th graders
  • 19% of girls bullied vs. 16% of boys
  • 13% of girls cyberbullied vs. 9% of boys
  • Bullying victims 2.5 times more likely to attempt suicide — 15% vs. 6% of other kids
  • 32% of bullying victims engage in “self-harmful” behavior vs. 13% of other kids